You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. We have come to the end of another week here on the Clearview Today Show, but that doesn't mean the content is stopping.
In fact, we are gearing up for a great conversation today with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah, who is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. Dr. Shah, happy Friday, my friend. It's happy Friday to you as well.
Good to see you here in the Canadian show. It has been a great week. Thank you. For all you guys do. Thank you to our listeners, our viewers.
We appreciate all of you. Of course, thank God for everything. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Thank you. Thank you for a great week and a great weekend up ahead. Hey, that's right. That's right. Dr.
Shah, I want to ask you one question. Would you do this for a million dollars? This is our million dollars, but segment.
So here's the thing: anytime you're going to get a million dollars, right? It's going to happen. You're going to get a check. It's going to come to you in the mail. A cool million.
A cool one million. But anytime anybody around you wants to refill their coffee, right? Let's like you do that thing where you drink your coffee, you got a little bit of cold left, you dump it out, you go ahead and get some new coffee. If anyone around you has coffee left, you can't let them dump it out. You have to drink their cold coffee and then hand it back to them.
For a million dollars? For a million dollars, don't say, I'm trying to, I am like really pushing myself to find something that he wouldn't do. It's a million dollars. There are things, I can see. There are things I'm not going to tell you.
Yeah, like I keep finding these things. Like, I can't see Dr. Shah, like, like, me. All right, so, like, imagine me. I'm like, oh, I only got like a little sip of coffee left.
I'm going to dump it out. I was going to say, to be fair, you don't finish your own coffee, so I can't imagine you finishing someone else's coffee. But I definitely can't imagine Dr. Shaw being like, oh, I'll finish it off. Give me the cold cold cold cold cold cold.
Give me that cold real quick. There are times I've sat across from people at lunches and dinners and see them waste a steak or a good.
Now, I have to be hungry. And I'm like. If it wasn't rude, I would tell you. Give it here. Hand over.
Like, I'll take that 100%. That's a piece of steak.
So you said this before, you've said this on the show, but there's that proverb that's like, put a knife to your throat if you're given to gluttony, especially like around people that are. We were at lunch today. And Ryan wasn't eating his, we went to a Mexican restaurant, and Ryan was not eating his tortillas. And I was like, gosh, I want, because I had like a bunch of beans and like beef that had spilled out of my food, and I wanted his tortillas. But I was like, I knew just with us, nobody would care, but I just could not bring myself to be like, Let me get those, let me get those tortillas because I know you're not gonna eat them.
Let me, let me just get them, let me get them. As couldn't do it.
So then as As we were leaving, Dr. Shaw was like, Well, we got this cheese dip, but we didn't even finish it. I was like, Oh, I'll finish. He was like, Yeah, if someone, please eat it. I was like, Oh, no problem, my friend.
Got it. I took one of Ryostoitias, scooped it up, put it in my mouth. As soon as I did, I was like, That was a mistake. Because it was cold. I was like, I know that's going to come back to hard.
Cold, thick. But it was the cheese dip is good. At the Mexican restaurant is the best. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how they do it.
Ellie. That's always a staple. Anytime we go, Ellie's like, We forget that we have to ask for it because we get it every time. She was like, There's been times where she's like, Are they going to bring the cheese tip? I'm like, No, you have to order that, Ellie.
She's like, Oh, yeah. Oh, but I've definitely a cheese tip, listen. I've definitely done that where, like, we're getting up to leave, and I see they've got like half of their food left. And I was like, I would so eat that. Yeah, exactly.
Let them walk out and be like, Can I have a box? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, going out to the car, I'll meet you in a minute. Yeah, hey, come here, come here.
Well, there's a lesson there. The lesson is this: there are people halfway across the world who don't have food. That's true, they don't have the basic things that we throw away at every meal. And I know growing up, I'm sure you heard that. Think about all the hungry children in India.
In Africa. I heard in the hungry children in China. Really? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Think about the hungry children. I'm sure the, I don't know who the Chinese turn to, but everybody's got hungry children that they compare to. But I hope that instead of just um You know, yeah, that's kind of sad. Do something about it. That's right.
That's right. You know, find a way to support an organization. There are many out there: Feed the Children or Samaritan's Purse, a really good one. Find a way to support some of these organizations who are feeding children in need. That's right.
And right now, in many of the school systems that are struggling with providing lunches for. Students, especially those coming from impoverished areas. We're actually as a church, we're helping. That's right. That's right.
We're helping a lot of families right now. Hey, get behind that and start helping people. That's right. Helping children. We don't talk about it a lot on the show, but yeah, the school support ministry here at Clearview is one of our most impactful.
It is. We do a lot with particular schools around the area. Ryan, you and Dr. Shad do a lot more with it than I do. Yeah.
Yeah. There's a lot of kids right here in our community that are in need of various things. Maybe it's school supply sometimes.
Sometimes it's clothing items.
Sometimes it's food. Maybe there's kids that are classified as food insufficient. And so the food that they get, the lunch that they get at school is maybe their only meal that day. That happens right here in our community.
So, you know, we come alongside and we support and we are able to not only just make sure that they're taken care of at school, but also be able to send them with food, those that need it, send them with food so that they have food at home to get them from day to day. And it's a need that's right here in our community that we're blessed to be able to. To meet. And then beyond that, you know, there are things that we do at Christmas time to sponsor kids and things like that.
So being able to meet those needs right here in our community and abroad is critical. Hey, look, somebody might be listening to the show today and saying, wow, I want to be part of that, but I'm not in that triangle community. I'm not in there, but I still want to support the Clearview School Support Ministry. What can they do?
So they can give online at clearviewbc.org forward slash give. There's a note section there. If you want to designate it specifically for school support or the outreach we do in our local elementary and high schools, it's not just elementary. You can designate it in that notes field. That's clearviewbc.org forward slash give.
That's right. And we've seen lives change. We've seen little kids who may not have had a school year like all the other kids, suddenly now they have something to look forward to. They start looking forward to going to school. That's correct.
And here's the thing: when you begin to do those things, when you begin to help those in need, you are. obeying the gospel because that's what Jesus said. Of course, we need to get people saved, but at the same time, pure and undefiled religion before God is to take care of widows and orphans. That's right. So you they may not be orphans in the sense of not having father and mother, but they may be in homes where Father and mother are Not able to make ends meet, or the family is no longer father and mother, mom is trying to take care of the children, or there might be addiction issues involved, and children are struggling.
So We are to be doing that pure and undefiled religion before God. That's right. And take care of kids and take care of those who are unable. To provide for their basic necessities. That's right.
You know, we don't like to say this, but as Christians, a lot of times we only do that stuff because it makes us feel good. And it'll make us feel really good that one time that we do it. Maybe the second time it'll feel kind of good too. But that third, fourth, fifth, or sixth time, it starts to feel good starts to wear off. And I've done that before where it's like, what'll happen?
I just stopped doing it because it didn't feel good anymore. And you don't turn it into a discipline. But I think this also goes along with our verse of the day. It absolutely does. Verse of the day today coming from Romans chapter 12, verse 10: Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love and honor, giving preference to one another.
That's right, Dr. Shaw, we've been talking, going through this book of Romans, especially in chapter 12, Paul is giving us the secret to reconciliation. And it's not what we would think, right? It's not like just forgiveness or coming to God or prayer, it's service. You know, service is the secret to reconciliation.
And that's an answer I think a lot of Christians are not prepared to hear. That's right. And we are to be as Paul talks about in other places, we are to have that ministry of reconciliation. God has called us to reconcile each other and most importantly, reconcile the world to Christ, to God.
Now, in this particular book, in the book of Romans, we're talking about reconciliation in the context of the church family. And we are, by extension, applying it to our. Individual families, where things happen, problems happen, trauma happens, and families get estranged, they break down, relationships fall apart. And so we are to be an agent of reconciliation because that's what Jesus did for us. But I do want to caution.
Because in a In a talking, in a topic like this, or in a conversation like this. There are people who are listening or who are watching who go, I hear what you're saying, but you don't understand the situation I'm in. Because there is a person With home Our relationship right now has ceased, or it is very estranged. or reconciliation is impossible. And I want you to understand that when we are sharing these These Uh you know Verses and these principles with you.
We're not saying that every relationship will get reconciled. uh like man nothing happened There are times because of what person has done or what they're still doing, the decisions they're making, they're completely contrary to your convictions, to the values that you hold to. Or they are doing things that are really uh very hurtful and painful. What do you do in those situations? You can't reconcile in the sense of, like, hey, we're hanging out again.
You're coming over to our house. No, it's not possible. We're not going to have Disney Channel reconciliation. No. Because in this sinful, demonic world, people do things that.
Well break the walls down. Or or build a wall forever. Yeah. What I am Hoping will happen is. that you will pray that they will be reconciled to God.
What we're hoping for is that you will see Your relationship, whatever it is now, whether it is estranged or completely. nonexistent, that you will see their life From eternity's perspective, here's what I'm saying. When you get on the other side And no matter how bad that person has been, You will not say, Oh man, I am so glad they're burning in hell. That's a good point. Yeah, I think it's helpful to see it through that lens, too, because it can feel sometimes like we're doing something wrong if reconciliation is difficult or even impossible.
Right. I've got to patch things up and we've got to get back to where we were before this fallout. And I think just hearing you say sometimes that's just not possible is helpful in clarifying what reconciliation actually means in our minds. Yeah, there's abuse situations involved, there's some real deep Unrepentant spirits there, a stubborn demonic spirit there where that person will not change.
So reconciliation is only putting yourself or somebody else in harm's way.
So we know it's not possible. Pray for that person. Pray that God, that they will turn to God. Because if they get reconciled with God, and even if reconciliation in this life is not possible, at least on the other side, you can say, hey, by God's grace, I'm here. By God's grace, you're here.
Right. Right. Nobody would get on the other side and say, I'm so glad she's not here. Yeah, I don't know if this is an appropriate way to view it, but I see it almost like a triangle, right? Like where I'm here and this person is here, and both of us are connected.
We're trying to get closer to God and be connected in God. But for them to sever this one between us, there has to be a severance between them and God in some way. And so even though this one may not ever... we may never come together again, I'm still praying that this severance with God is what gets healed. Like that even if we never cross paths again, that you will walk with God for the rest of your life.
Yeah. And people ask me, so what will it be like in heaven? I mean, will you be like best friends? I don't know. I've never been to heaven.
I can't tell you what it will be like. I just know that sin will no longer be there. That's right. This. Sinful world will no longer be there.
So it'll be a new heavens and new earth. The enemy will no longer be there.
So I'm praying and hoping. that there will be a lot of healing and there will be a lot of peace on the world. On the other side. What does that look like? We just kind of have to wait and find out.
But the way that we move toward reconciliation here is not just, you know, sitting back and hoping for the best or just saying, God, you need to work and I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and watch you work. The way that we move toward reconciliation is actually looking for ways to serve. Looking for ways to put ourselves on the back burner and to put other people first. In those relationships, that reconciliation is possible. Service is the key.
Service is the key. Because you talk about, we said that in the verse of the day, that we give preference to one another. We serve one another. Right. The preference is not just like, hey, you go ahead first.
Right. I think it's more than that. It's serving one another. And I think that's so helpful for the church family and the church community. Because a lot of times we think of service as like, oh, he's just a good guy.
He's a good volunteer. He's dependable. I can count on him. But it's much more because it actually benefits your spirit. It benefits your soul to serve.
It makes you not just a better Christian, but there's something. There's something it does for you in the sense that, and maybe you can kind of help me flesh this out a little bit, but you said that, like, When we were going through Romans, that like sin. Death, these are powers. And I'm not saying that service is a power, but it does something in you that is living and transformative. That's right.
That makes sense. Oh, yes, it does. It does, of course.
So I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Now, there's one thing I want to kind of hone in on over here. This is the passage that Ryan read in the opening, which is Romans chapter 12, verse 10. In honor, giving preference to one another. I want us to focus on the word honor. Again, it goes back to Romans chapter 1.
Right? We've been trying to connect Romans 12 to Romans 1 to demonstrate that doctrine and ethics cannot be separated. Theology and application go hand in hand. They're not Subservient. Like application is not subservient to theology.
In fact, it's an extension.
So, how does that tie in with Romans chapter 1? Because if you go back to Romans chapter 1 and verse 29, it says, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is more than just Having sex outside of marriage or having sex that is deviant. Or any of that. It means dishonoring one's body.
That's right. It's not just something I did wrong, it's an actual dishonoring of my body. And the body of someone else. Yeah, good point. Good point.
What is the next one? Wickedness, covetousness, and I can stop at every single one of them, but for time's sake, covetousness is dishonoring.
Someone else's success. Good point. Yeah. They're successful. They've earned these things, but.
I deserve those instead. That's right. So, I'm going to talk bad about you. I'm going to tear you down. I'm going to find something.
uh in you that doesn't deserve that honor? That's covetousness. That's a good point. Good point. What is next?
Maliciousness, full of envy.
So, covetousness and envy are often confused, but if you noticed here, they're separated. Covetousness is: you have something that I desire. Envy is sort of like that, but it has an evil sign. Side to it.
Okay, then there's also jealousy. But envy is dishonor in our heart towards someone who is something we're not or has something we don't. I see maybe this isn't the right distinction, but I see it as like covetousness is: I just want that, right? I want what you have. Whereas envy is like, you shouldn't have it.
Right. It has that green eyes to it. Yeah. Envy is like a greediness, a desire to see someone else fail and us to have what they have received. You want them to hurt.
Yes. Yeah. I agree. 100%. That's envy right there.
But that's also a form of dishonor. Murder. Yeah. That's a dishonoring someone enough to kill them. Yeah.
Yeah. That's like a whole different level of dishonor. Oh, yeah. 100%. Strife, deceit.
Deceit. Dishonoring your word. Yeah. Your own credibility. Yeah.
Evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, means dishonoring someone's confidence. Whispering is something that immediately puts people. Uh, at edge. Yeah. Yeah.
You know, we like to go past that one because or we like to go past a lot of these because, like, oh, murder. Yeah, I don't murder. I don't, I'm not gonna murder anybody. I'm not gonna steal. I'm not gonna have sexual.
But the church is full of whisperers. Ooh, man. Yeah, it's like, we don't. Did you know so-and-so? You know, did you know that's what's going on over there?
What's the temptation? You walk into a room, people are whispering. I automatically assume, are they talking about me? Yeah. Yeah.
And especially if they stop when I walk in the room, I'm like, all right, what were you talking about? By the way, years ago I read a book by Billy Graham on the Beatitudes. And it was like Secret to Happiness or something like that. And in that book, he said early on in his ministry, he struggled with this insecurity that the moment he saw two people talking, he immediately concluded that it was about him. And he said he had to learn that he is not that important.
It was a secret of happiness. You're right. Yeah. You're right. Yeah, I do that sometimes.
Actually, I do that all the time, pretty much every day. I am not the center of other people's world. No, pretty much every day. They may be talking about if they stop talking, it's like, I know they had to be talking about me. What if they stop talking because they don't want to put a burden on you?
About someone else that now you have to remember, or you have to vouch for, or you have to sort of be taken into confidence. And hey, look, that's what I will talk about later. Yeah, millennials are super bad about it. I know this sounds like it's coming across like a joke. I'll walk into a restaurant, a random restaurant, and see like two girls laughing at each other, and I'm so positive they're laughing at me.
I've never met them in my life, but I know. They probably don't even know you exist. Like, if I walk past them and they laugh, I'm done. My confidence is shot. And I'm like, I know I'm the main character.
So who else would be? Obviously, they're laughing about me. Who else would be? Who else would they be laughing about? But me.
Yeah, I know. Oh. Backbiters, this is dishonoring someone behind their backs. Kind of a cousin of the whisperers. Haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.
What is the Fourth commandment? To honor your mother and father.
Well Disobedient to parent means you're dishonoring your. Father and your mother. That's right. That's exactly right. And, you know, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.
Those are all character traits of a dishonorable person.
So they'll they'll they'll dishonor God and they'll dishonor other people.
So, you've got these people who are completely flying in the face of what Paul is saying in Romans 12:10.
So, the question is: when Paul says, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another. It's more than just, oh, you first. You know, I hold the door for you. Mm-hmm. Are you going to the elevator first?
No, it's more than that. Are you dishonoring people? based on Romans chapter one twenty nine All the way. The end? It almost feels like he's saying, like, you should be outdoing each other in how you that's correct.
That's that's the flip side: is that we're not just dishonoring people, we are serving them in a way we're outdoing what each other are seeking to accomplish. How different would the world around us be if we all adopted that mindset? Like, I want to outdo you in how much I love and care for you and serve you. If we stop competing for who gets more honor and who to see who can start giving more honor, yeah, you know, when you think about ancient. uh world, the ancient world, especially the world around which uh Jesus lived for that thirty three and a half years of his earthly life um or Paul As an apostle or the early church, they were living in a world very similar to ours, but at the same time a world also very selfish, self-centered, cutthroat.
A world that destroyed people. You know, these qualities that we can see in people, as I'm reading this, we can see those people around us. We can see some of them in our own selves. These were also existed in The first century. There were people like this.
They were whispering. There were people like this who would murder. There were people who were wicked and covetous and envious. There were people who had sexual immorality. And Paul is telling The church in the power of the Holy Spirit that In honor, outdo each other.
That is such a contrary ethic. to what the The world of the time, the refined or so-called civilized world lived. They lived To Outdo each other. They live to promote themselves. Oh, yes, there were friendships.
You scratch my back, I'll scratch your back. There were friendships there, but in the end, I want to win out of this one. That's right. That's right. And I will climb over whoever I want to to get to that success.
And in that kind of an environment, Paul says, in honor, Outdo each other. And I feel like Uh Goddess. Telling us as the church. Are we doing that? Are we honoring each other?
I think you've done a great job of doing that. Clearview has a culture of people who honor each other, and I don't think that's by accident. There's, I mean, we, we, as part of our team, we make that a very explicit thing where you're like, talk good about your team. You know, always make sure that you honor your teammates. Always point out when people are doing a good job and point it out publicly, point it out to your congregation, point it out when we're in meetings.
That's something that a lot of people don't, I think that's something that a lot of people, especially a lot of leaders, don't pay attention to. You know what I'm saying? They don't tell you, hey, when you see your teammate doing good, praise it. Point it out. And so I think when the church Members see us doing it, they start to do it.
Because I very rarely, I'm sure it happens, but very rarely here do I hear people whispering. Do I hear people backbiting? All I ever really hear, truly, and I'm not just saying this, I hear. Church members talking good about other church members. Yeah, or you see that.
That's the vast majority of what's a beautiful spirit. And that's where the Holy Spirit is there because he does not. Work in a place where there's contention. Yes. When people are against each other.
And you see churches because the enemy has come in. The churches are fighting with each other and angry with each other and putting putting each other down. And in those situations, the Holy Spirit is grieved. How can he work?
So he wants to see the brothers and sisters in Christ united. And and Honor one another. I mean, if you look here in verse 12, it says, rejoicing in, I'm sorry, not lagging in diligence. This is verse 11, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. It means when you're serving each other.
Um just know that Ultimately, you're serving Christ. Serving Christ.
So do it to them, not because of them, but because of Christ. That's right. Like I imagine, especially when it says fervent in spirit, like how lazily some people serve. But imagine if Christ was like, hey, could you, could you, could you get over there and just rewire that? And I'm like, oh my God.
Jesus, do I have to do it right now? Like, I'll do it. I'm going to do it in a little bit. But you would never be, you would rush to do it. That's right.
Why don't we serve other people like that? I know. That's what we are to do. Verse 12: rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.
Now, hope is important because. The hope we're talking about is not, I hope it works out. I hope it's going to. You know, it's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow. But the hope we're talking about is a rock-solid assurance that something better is coming.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians now abide: faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love, faith, hope. Faith is the trust. Hope is Uh Something better is coming. It's kind of funny because hope, really, in that context, means like assurance. Yeah, it is assurance.
But hope, the way we use it, Really almost means the opposite these days. It's like wishing for something. Yeah. Oh, I hope this happens. And saying, you know, maybe I'm more than likely it won't.
Yeah. But we are to be rejoicing in hope. And by the way, this hope, again, we're going back. To that original concept or principle that we're not looking into our own selves to find love. Neither are we looking into our own selves to find hope.
Because Romans chapter 5 and verse 5 says, Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This hope. will not disappoint because its source is the love And not just any love, not my love, but the love of the Holy Spirit. That's right. That's right.
The love that exists in the Trinity. Romans chapter 15, verse 13, it says, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So the Holy Spirit is a spirit of hope. That's right. Means there's a better day coming.
So how do you operate as a church? You can either operate as man, I'm doing the best I can, I don't know. We're trying this and I hope it works out. Oh, we tried it before, but it just you know, it just I don't know.
Well, I guess we're gonna keep trying. Yeah. That's not a spirit of hope. That's not the Holy Spirit hope. The Holy Spirit hope is Consistency.
Perseverance, but consistency. That demonstrates hope. Perseverance means I'm going to keep doing this. Consistency, I'm going to do it on the same level. because I know that this will reach The goal, the vision that God has given to us.
Amen. That's hope. That's what we're trying to do here. That's exactly right. So And then, if I can finish off this section here, continuing steadfastly in prayer means busy yourself in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse, rejoice with those who rejoice. And weep with those who weep. be of the same mind toward one another, do not set your mind on high things. But associate with the humble, do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil, having regard for good things in the sight of men.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink.
For in so doing, you will heap coals of fire. on his head this Qualifier is not judgment, it's conviction. Great, great point. It's the breakdown that happens. the shame that comes.
that leads to repentance and even salvation. And then final Verse there in verse 21. This is Romans 12:21. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And I hope Our listeners, our viewers.
Will remember this in your relationships, whether it's family, church, community. Do not be overcome by evil. but overcome evil with good, not your good. But the good that comes to the life of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Guys, make sure you join us next time. Same station. We're going to be diving into another great topic here on the Clearview Today show. Thanks again to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. And don't forget that you can support us by subscribing to the show on iTunes, Spotify, Prey.com, wherever you get your podcasts from.
And you can also support us financially at Abinanshah.com forward slash give. John, what do you want to close with today? Definitely. We just want to encourage you guys to be worshiping this weekend. Find somewhere to go worship.
If you don't have anywhere to worship, you can always join us online, clearviewbc.org. We go live at 8.30 and then again at 11 a.m. every single Sunday. Also, make sure you follow drshaw onpray.com. We are getting ever closer to 50,000 subscribers.
We're going to have a great, great celebration episode as soon as we cross that threshold.
So maybe you'll be the first one to push us over. We'd love to see you there. That's right. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview Today.
